No
longer a happy home

Maintaining a marriage is also
proving to be more difficult for many people in older age.

According to the Office for
National Statistics this is due to the fact the UK has an ageing population and
the fact there are more over 60s than there once were.

In figures taken from census data,
there were 1.6 divorces per 1,000 married men over 60 in 1991 although that
figure had risen to 2.3 by 2011.

Meanwhile there were 1.6 divorces
per 1,000 married women over 60 in 2011, a rise from 1.2 a decade earlier.

The average length of marriage for men aged 60 and over who
got divorced in 2011 was 27.4 years while it was averaging 31.9 years for women
in the same age bracket.

It is, however, very difficult to sufficiently explain these
findings as there a whole multitude of reasons which can lead to divorce.

Battling illness

The period right after retirement is a precarious time for
the elderly, according to insurance firm Liverpool Victoria (LV=) who discovered that almost a third of retirees
said their health had worsened in that time.

Furthermore, 10% were diagnosed with a serious illness during
the five years after retirement.

Funding sufficient healthcare or home care is therefore a
vital consideration for many and can tear a large chunk out of any savings that
have been accrued in previous years.

Beyond health
issues, LV= also discovered that a lot of retirees choose to take on home
improvements or move house once they have given up work.

One in five
decided to swap locations while a quarter decided to modify their existing
home, often in order to make it a more comfortable place to live.

Fighting crimes

It is an unfortunate state of affairs that elderly people are
often seen as easy targets for fraudsters and scam artists.

These unscrupulous criminals can eat their way into someone’s
savings before they even know what is happening, by which point it is often too
late.

For instance, take the so-called courier scam whereby victims
were asked to key in pin numbers to mobile phones to ‘couriers’ who visited
their homes.

In less than two years, more than £1.5 million was removed
from bank accounts as a result, many of which belonged to retirees.

Considering the family

With the pressures of work and home life becoming greater and
greater, many parents are turning to granny and grandpa for assistance with
looking after their children.

Lots of parents are becoming dependant on family members to
provide care and while almost three quarters admitted they aren’t in it for the
money, it still needs to be considered.

Planning life around time with grandchildren can be vital for
many families while assisting with household bills and living costs can also be
high on the agenda.

There is plenty to consider once retirement age has been
reached, and some of the choices are by no means easy ones to make.